The present invention relates to communication network management. In particular, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a system and method for error detection in a communication network.
Communication networks require quick and reliable error detection and isolation to ensure network integrity, and maintain both customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In the competitive telecommunications industry it is advantageous to identify network troubles quickly and get them resolved as soon as possible.
Previously known T3 and T1 technology has limited automation for diagnosing errors in T3 and T1 network equipment, especially errors due to power outages. As an example, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram 100 of a previously known power outage detection and isolation system. System 100 consists of a customer premises equipment (CPE) 110, a channel service unit (CSU) 120, an alarm management platform 130, a test tool 140, a ticketing system 160, a maintenance platform 170, a work center 180 and a customer 190.
In this system, if the CPE 110 experiences a power outage the alarm management platform 150 detects an alarm 112 and alerts the ticketing system 160. The ticketing system 160 forwards a notification (not shown) of the alarm 112 to the work center 160. The work center 160 uses the test tool 140 to contact the CPE 110 or the CSU 120 in order to diagnose the alarm 112. The alarm 112 is identified as either a power outage or another type of error by the work center 160, and the customer 190 is contacted to confirm the identification.
A disadvantage of previously known systems like that described with respect to FIG. 1 is their reliance on the one or more technicians to properly and quickly identify an outage alarm. The use of technicians is prone to human error and the time required to diagnosis an out of service state is limited by technician response time.
Accordingly, current automated techniques for detecting and isolating errors in T1, T3, and other communication networks do not operate in a convenient, cost-effective manner and will most certainly not be satisfactory in the future. There is a need for real-time monitoring of the entire communication path from customer installation to customer installation that provides a proactive method for trouble detection and isolation in the communication network.